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International Women's Day Celebration

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Sunday, March 13, 2011 - 2:00pm

Celebrate International Women's Day. For anyone who has any desire to know why HALF of humanity remains in chains because of their gender...who wants to understand the oppression of women AND what can actually be done to radically uproot this oppression is invited to be part of this revolutionary celebration. Join us for a celebration with poetry, music, a performance piece and refreshments.

"Imagine if the pent-up anger, as well as the creativity and yearning for a different way of living, that burns inside women were unleashed and given conscious direction; if it became fuel in not only challenging any and every form of women's oppression but in contributing to the development and revolutionization of society and the world as a whole.

Imagine if half of humanity were no longer forced to live with the ever-present knowledge that at any time of day or night, in their own homes or on the street, they could be attacked and raped-by conquering soldiers, predatory strangers, and most often by their own so-called "lovers." Imagine what it would feel like if women could walk the earth truly free of that kind of fear." It's not just a dream-it is possible".

In many ways, and particularly for men, the woman question and whether you seek to completely abolish or to preserve the existing property and social relations and corresponding ideology that enslave women (or maybe "just a little bit" of them) is a touchstone question among the oppressed themselves. It is a dividing line between "wanting in" and really "wanting out": between fighting to end all oppression and exploitation-and the very division of society into classes-and seeking in the final analysis to get your part in this.

- Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USAFromA Horrible End, or An End To The Horror?RCP Publications, 1984

Imagine if never again did a woman know what it was to sell her body as a desperate last resort to feed herself or her children, or in any other way have her sexuality forced or coerced

Imagine, instead, if sexuality and intimacy became for everyone something only engaged in when it was free and voluntary and on the basis of mutual respect, equality and a shared desire. Imagine young people growing up with the education and support they need to explore healthy relationships and sex when they are ready, unburdened by physical danger or unnecessary emotional harm.It's not just a dream-it is possible.

Think what it means that today for men there is no insult that hits harder than being called a "pussy" or a "fag." Now, imagine a day when people look back at today's restrictive notions of gender-of what it is to be a "man" and what it is to be a "woman"-as mind-boggling absurdities of humanity's oppressive past.Imagine a society in which women were not evaluated on the basis of physical beauty standards, their human worth and potential reduced to one or another body part-but instead were related to as human beings, in the fullest sense.

Imagine if abortion and birth control were available to all women at all times without stigma or apology. Imagine if everyone learned the science surrounding women's biology-as well as science and the scientific method more broadly-so that never again could so-called "holy men" prey on people's ignorance to heap the weight of tradition, the shackles of forced motherhood, and the suffocation of shame on women for exercising these most fundamental rights.

It's not just a dream-it is possible-and it is urgently crying out to be done. (read more) Excerpts from "A Declaration: For Women's Liberation And The Emancipation of All Of Humanity"- Revolutionary State Power-A Most Liberating Thing,

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AFSC is a Quaker organization devoted to service, development, and peace programs throughout the world. Our work is based on the belief in the worth of every person, and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice. Learn more

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